House compromises, passes border funding

WASHINGTON—The Democratic-majority House on Thursday approved a Senate-endorsed bill providing $4.6 billion for the care of migrants in U.S. custody. The bill, which passed 305-102 with all but seven Republicans in favor, will now go to President Donald Trump for signature.

After pushing for the passage of her chamber’s own version of the bill, which did not include funding for border security, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told her party to acquiesce to Trump and the GOP Senate majority, which passed its bipartisan measure 84-8.

“At the end of the day, we have to make sure that the resources needed to protect the children are available,” Pelosi wrote in a Dear Colleague letter to her fellow Democrats. “In order to get resources to the children fastest, we will reluctantly pass the Senate bill.”

The new bill allocates most of its funding to border agencies to provide better overall care for captured illegal migrants, whose plight of overcrowding and unsanitary conditions in detention has captured the nation’s attention. It also boosts border security, giving about $580 million to military efforts on the border, more immigration judges, and increasing payroll funding for Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). But it does not contain any money for a border wall or more ICE detention capacity.